Air cooling apparatus



Feb. 19, 1935. F. 1.. SHELOR AIR 000mm APPARATUS Fil ed Ja n. 18, 1933- Patented Feb. 19, 1935 7 S and 8. Engineering Qompan'y,' Richmond,

"Va"; a corporation of Virginia I t i ;hpplication January 18, 1933;Serial 1%. 652,388

' scram-s. (or 2s1 :107)

The invention; relates to. new and useful improvements in an. air ,coolingapparatus which maybe used forcooling' thetemperatureof a room.

In my e o-pending application, Serial No. 649,997,- filedJanuary 3,1933, there is shown and described'an apparatus for cooling the air of a room wherein a fibrous material is saturated with'water and an air currentvis'rcaused to pass over the surface of the saturated material for vaporizing the water. The latent heat incident to the vaporization of the water cools the air and surfaces with which the water contacts, and the cooled air passing from the apparatus'iscir- I; culated' through the room.':,- The present invention hasto do With an improvement in anarrangeinent of the'saturated fabric; anduhasfiforits object the'increasing of the eflieiencyof the cooling apparatus. A further object of theinv'ention is to provide urated fabric is so arranged that the "air currents pass through the fabric and thereby the dust particles suspended in the air current are filtered out and collect on the fabric. A still further object of the invention is to provide an air cooling apparatus "wherein the fabric is supplied with water insuch a way that when the air current ceases and the apparatusis rendered inoperative, there will be no objectionable dripping of water from the apparatus.

These and other objects will in part be obvious) and will in part be hereinafter more fully dis-" closed.

vided which is closed, except for an air inlet port and an air outlet port. -Within the-casing is an 5 air circulating fair which operates to draw air into the intake port and'forciblyfeject the air through an outlet port. I Extending across the air passage between the inlet-and outlet port is a fabric through which the air is forced by the 0V air impelling means. 'This =fabric is saturated with water so that the air, as it passes through the fabric contacting with the water globules clinging to the fabric, will vaporize the same. The heat incident to the changing of the water into the form of vapor is taken from the air and andpartially closes an annular chamber 10. This In the drawing, which shows by way of illus the fabric parts cooling the it and coolingthe 'f fabric, and the fabric will'in turn'further. cool the air'through the contact therewith. Thus the air passing through the outlethasbeen lowered intemperature, and this will efliciently lowerythe 5 temperature of theroom in whichvthe apparatus is operated. l

. Referring more in detail to the'drawing; the apparatus'as illustratedbonsists of a supporting base 1 carrying a standard 2.0nwhich is mounted 10 acasing consisting of a receptac1e3.- The bottom of the receptacle is providedxwith an opening 4.21s shown in the drawing; and this opening is closed by-a plate- 5 which may be secured thereto by suitable-bolts 6, 6. The standard 2 extends-l5 through the plate 5, and a motor indicated at M is mounted on the standard.v This motor may beof anydesired construction andhas only been indicated diagrammatically. Extending up--' w wardly fromx-the'bottom; of the receptacle 3 is a 20 an apparatus of the above type wherein the sat V partition 7. i This partition is: soldered or other wise secured to the bottom and extends p'refer-' ably substantiallyto the same height as the side walls 3a of:the..receptiicle. 'A.s'ide wallofi'the receptacle at the upper end thereof is flanged and beaded as indicated at 8 for strengthening the same; The partition? is provided with an angular :portion 9 for strengthening said partition and for'providing a'le'dge'which overhangs chamber is'liquid-tight and is supplied with water, preferably to the waterline level indicated by the broken line. The side wall 3 of the receptacleis provided with aseries'of'bracket arms 11 which project above the upper-edge of the receptacle. A screen is attached to the arms and completely encircles the receptacleand extends all the way from the top edge of the receptacle to the upper ends'of thearms; Each arm; has

an inwardly extendingportion. formed with -a U-shaped rece'ss in the free endther'eof; {A wire 13 has a fabric 14 attached thereto,"and this wire is adapted to be placed in'the recess in the arms '11. i The "fabric hangs from the wireand extends down'into the receptacle beneath'the"water line." This fabric will be saturatedwith water through capillary'attraction. There is ahori zontal partition'wall' 15 located above the motor M, and the motor shafte'xtends above said ho'ri-' zontalpartition-and carries at its upper'end an air impeller*16.-

air 'impeller 16' consists of alower'dis'k 17 and'an upper annular member 18 parallel therewith. The opening in the annular member is centrally thereof. The upper annular member is mounted on radial partitions 19.

As shown in the drawing there are six of these radial partitions, and between the partitions are radial passage-ways 20. I

Above the air impeller is a cover 21 which rests on the wire 13. Said cover has a depending annular member 22 which is located inside of the wire and the upper edge ofthe fabric portion. This cover overhangs the screen 12. -'I'he cover has an opening 23 'v centrally therethrough. in which is located a screen 24.

When the motor is connected to a proper source of power the impeller 16 is rotated, and as the impeller rotates air will be drawn in-through the central opening of the cover and will be forcibly discharged through the radial passages This will cause the air current set up by theimpeller to impinge upon the fabric, and as the fabric retards the free movement of the air therethrough the air will travel with the impeller following around the inner surface of the fabric,

thus setting up a travelling air current which strikes the fabric and finally finds its way through the fabric. In other words, the fabric-restricts the passage of the air so that a' pressure is developed in the chamber directly within the fabric which aids in thepassing of the air through the fabric. This together with the travelling of the 7 air current with the rotating impeller in a circular direction across the inner face of the fabric greatly. aids in the vaporization 1 ofthe Water saturating the fabric. As-the air passes through the fabric, any dirt or-dust carried thereby is filtered outan'd collects on the fabric. The air passing'through the fabric gives up its heat to the water as it'is changed to vapor form. This cools the fabric, and'the fabric in turn further cools the air so that'the air issuing through the screen will be filtered, free from" suspended dust, and will also be cooled. The cool air circulating through the room coolsvthe room, and the vapor carried in suspension-in the air will condition the area so that it. is freerfrom excessive dryness. While the air enters through a relatively small intakeport itpasses out through a relatively large outlet port, and thus creates free and easy movement in the air about the apparatus which is free. from any excessive draft or air currents in any particular direction.

Inasmuch as the fabric is supplied with'water by capillary attraction, when the impeller is stopped and the apparatus rendered inoperative,

the water in the fabric,'if there is any drip at all, will passv back into "the water receptacle. Water may be readilysupplied'in-any suitable way to this receptacle.

It will be understood,wof course, airman struction may be, greatly varied'from that shown in the drawing which is merelyillustrative of one form which the invention may take. "The essential feature of the invention resides inthe placing of the fabric so that it extends across the path of travel of the air from theinlet. to the outlet of the apparatus, thus requiring the air to pass through the fabric. While the impeller is shown as placed within; the apparatus it will be understood that it may be otherwisedisposed, so long as an air currentis createdwh-ich causes the air of the .roomto pass through the apparatus and also pass through the fabric which is saturated with water. It is preferred, however, to use an air impeller of the type shown-which will not only causethe air toimpinge atall points described above is in the form of a unit which maybe made very small, and which may be readily transferred from one portiontoanother, or

placed on a desk. It may; beeffectively. used in place of an ordinary fan for circulating air and. cooling the same in a portion of a room where one is working. On the other hand, it may be p made me. larger unit and used for cooling the entire room if desired. -It is understood also that this unit 'may be made in other forms, and the form described in detail is purely for the purpose of illustrating the invention and one of its uses. Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An air cooler including in combination a standard, a receptacle mounted thereon, said receptacle having a partition forming anannular chamber for retaining water,-bracket' arms carried bythe receptacle and projecting above .the

same, a cylindrical fabric member supported by said bracket members and extending into the receptacle beneath the water level, a. cover for said receptacle contacting with said fabric at the upper edgethereof, an impeller "within the re-.

oeptacle movable about a vertical axis and hav ing radial air passages therein, said cover having I an 'air inlet whereby air is directed. into the.

center of the impeller andforcibly ejected therefrom against the fabric along :the surface of the.

fabric'and through the fabric. r

2. ,An' air cooler including in combination a} standard, a receptacle mounted thereon, said re oeptacle having a partition forming an annular chamber for retaining water, bracket arms-carried by the receptacle and projecting above the same, a-cylindrical fabric member supported by I said bracket members and extending into the,

receptacle beneath the water level, a cover for said receptacle contacting with said fabric at the upper edge thereof, an impeller within the receptacle movable about a vertical axisv and having radial air passages therein, said cover having an air inlet whereby air is directed into the center of the impeller and forcibly ejected therefrom against the. fabric alongthe surface of the fabric and through the fabric, said cover being placed about .the outer wall of the receptacle so as to provide an outlet port all the way around-the receptacle. I v

3. An airv cooler including in combination, a

standard, a receptacle moimted-thereon, said reoeptacle having a partition forming an annular chamber for retainingwater; a cylindrical fabric member extending into the receptacle beneath the water level forming a fabric wall, means for supporting said fabric member, a closure for said receptacle contacting with the upper edge of the fabric wall and spaced from the upper edge of saidrreceptacle to forman outlet therefor,

and means for forcibly causing the current of 1 air to flow into the casing through said inlet,

the casing through the outlet. I

FREDERroK L. SHELOR.

said closure having an opening centrally thereof, 

